Ok guys so I broke down and got this set. For the measly sum of $15. How you ask? Well I got a gift card from work for going above and beyond and I was recognized by the management team. They gave me a $15 gift card to target so I figured it was time, an blew it on some Lego.

My first impressions of the set is that it is a very good builder for pre-teens an teens. There are some advanced techniques, such as some SNOT work that were never used in sets when we were kids just 20 years ago. The main Build is a fairly solid build and heavy in the hand. My Only qualm is that the pods are a little flimsy as they only attach Via a cross shaped Technic post.

The secondary build of the Gate is so so. It is a little unstable, an a bit flimsy. I do Like the cart however. If built into a larger display piece I am sure this would hold up better. I am still tired of the flick fire, and the small catapults, though as the box states 8-14 we are not the age group that TLG is focusing on.

That said this is a great set for parts!!! When I first picked up the set and looked at the Pictures I thought there would be more panels to simplify the build. but when I dumped out the box I was greeted by 2 bags of nothing but small parts.

This set has which I find very desirable; 24- 1x1 modified with stud on side in Dark Bley 1- Light Bley Lion head 8- Bley Masonry Bricks 2- Green Vine Pieces 21- Dark Bley Cheese slopes As well as a smattering of other useful parts.

So as a parts pack you get 424 pieces, at $30. This is AWESOME! As Emmit would say. It comes to about .07 cents per part. There are only 2 panels in this set, if you don't count the gate pieces. All in all this is a good buy. I will be getting another set in a couple months just for the parts I listed above. This is a great set/ Parts pack and a worthy addition to my parts bins.

I hope you all find this useful.

Curt

Last edited by Lil_Curt on Sat Feb 15, 2014 3:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Lil_Curt wrote:The secondary build of the Gate is so so. It is a little unstable, an a bit flimsy. I do Like the cart however. If built into a larger display piece I am sure this would hold up better. I am still tired of the flick fire, and the small catapults, though as the box states 8-14 we are not the age group that TLG is focusing on.

I was wondering on how the gate section would actually be. I have two of these sets and haven't put either one together. As a general rule of thumb, if I am parting out a set, I always build it first (friends sets withstanding). So I do plan on building these sets, one in each mode.

It's interesting you say the secondary build is so-so. Tonight, I built the Ice Cream Truck set from the same theme. I purchased it to go in my city modular display just for the ice cream truck. I built the ice cream truck, and while it was bright with lots of colors, it's initial charm wore off quickly. What really perturbed me was the fact there were about 100+ pieces left (or so it seemed). I wish TLG would have integrated more pieces in the secondary build. To bring that on topic, how was the secondary build with leftover pieces? Were there a lot or a few left? Did you feel as if you got the "bang for your buck" with the secondary build only? Would the secondary build have been sufficient with the same price tag?

In answer to schmidts questions. I rebuilt the secondary build for a second time.

It does have in the neighborhood of 100 pieces left over. Most seem to be from the micro manager however. I am with schmidt with so many pieces I feel that more could/should have been integrated in the secondary build. If this set was to stand alone as a gate house I feel it should be cheaper in the $20-25 range, an leave out the pieces they didnt feel the need to use. Also leave out the Sharon Shoehorn figure, or at least make her period correct.

As a build the secondary has some things going for it. Many useful techniques to learn. However it leaves something to be desired and it is fairly fragle an it is top heavy. I like the fact that this set comes with stickers as I leave them off all my sets. Parts become more useable. A side note on the parts. I have had 3 modified 1x1 bricks crack on me in this set allready so I am a bit dissapointed there.

All in all, it is still a good set an I will be buying one or two more just for parts.

It's Taco Tuesday and everything is awesome, because the LEGO Movie comes out on DVD today. Let's celebrate with a movie-themed set review:*

Join the Classic Castle set review discussion. Please post your opinions on the set play ability, piece selection, design, etc. Which sets stand up to our catapult of critique and which ones crumble in shame!

This week’s set is 70806 - Castle Cavalry.

Castle Cavalry is part of the first wave of LEGO Movie sets, officially coming out at the start of this year. The set has two designs. The first, a more traditional castle set, has two soldiers (Sir Stackabrick and Gallant Guard)s guarding a gatehouse. Then, along with Sharon Shoehorn (of everyone's favorite sitcom), they rebuild the gatehouse into some sort of fighter jet/spaceship thing to fight off Lord Business and his Micromanagers.

By the way, Honey, where are my pants?

Bruce

*I'm appending this set review thread to an older discussion on this set rather than create a new duplicate thread.